CHAPTER XVIII
HOW I WON AN UNEXPECTED CHAMPIONSHIP
I decided to give up riding on the National Circuit for a week or two, following the Janesville program, so that I might go to Chicago to make an attempt to once more lower the one-mile world’s record. That meant I would skip the Circuit races which were scheduled to be held at Ottumwa, Iowa, July 26 and 27.
Arriving in Chicago, I met “Birdie” Munger who was to take charge of my record trials. My objective was the world record for the mile, which was held by Eddie McDuffee, who was the first bicycle rider to ride the distance under 1:30. As I trained for this trial against the world record something went wrong with my big steam pacing tandem which had been specially built for me for this occasion.
Since it would take several days to make repairs to my pacing machine I decided to jump to Ottumwa and participate in the Circuit races there. I had been working out on the Chicago track for two weeks with a big gear, it measured 114 inches. Shifting from that 114-inch gear back to my usual sprint gear, 92 inches, would, I felt certain, prove too much of a handicap for me against the fast field that were entered in the Ottumwa Races. Followers of bicycle racing will readily appreciate what it means to have a rider drop from a 114-inch gear to one of 92 inches, after having practiced for a fortnight exclusively on the higher gear.
Nevertheless, I won two first places and one second place in the Ottumwa two-day program, using the 114-inch gear. One of the events that I won was the one-mile national I also won the one-mile open and finished second to Nat Butler in the two-mile championship race.
I quote from an Ottumwa newspaper as follows:
“Major Taylor Wins National Championship of the Iowa State Meet on the Ottumwa Track. Major Taylor, the far-famed Negro, was a great surprise to the crowd that attended the National Championship races of the Iowa state meet on the new Ottumwa track yesterday. He is a perfect wonder on the wheel, which he rides much easier than any other rider on the track, and yet he always seems to have a reserve force that would land him a winner. Although the people could not help but admire his riding he was given a marble heart at the start. The crowd did not like him and did not want to see him win, but in spite of this he carried off his share of the honors.
“When that doughty old warrior, Nat Butler, undoubtedly one of
